Corporate wellbeing platform Gympass has released a new report called the State of Work-Life Wellness.
After surveying over 9,000 employees across nine territories (UK, US, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Chile, Italy, Spain and Germany) the report found that a new health economy has arrived where employees are placing greater emphasis on personal wellbeing – especially Gen Zers.
The good news is that overall, in the UK, 67 per cent of employees feel happy in their jobs and 70 per cent feel their work allows them time to take care of their wellbeing.
Results showed that Gen Z respondents – those aged 18-24 in 2022 – are happier than the over 55s at work (75 per cent compared to 60 per cent). Overall, Gen Zers were three times more likely to place importance on wellbeing at work than their older colleagues with 89 per cent prepared to quit the company they work for if it wasn’t focused on wellbeing.
The pursuit of wellbeing has also made Gen Zers 20 per cent more likely to engage with employee benefits packages than older colleagues.
“The pandemic changed people’s approach to wellbeing, but it appears this has been felt most with younger workers,” said Luke Bullen, head of UK and Ireland at Gympass. “This generation is prioritising wellbeing and taking stock of what they want out of their employment. Today, young people are not content with jobs they deem unsatisfying or potentially harmful to their health and they are not shy about sharing these expectations with their employers.”
The report suggests work-life balance is in fact a “mythical utopia” with pursuit of such a concept leading to employee frustration because it's unreachable.
“The lines between work and life are blurred, despite the most valiant of efforts to keep them separate," reads the report. "It’s time to allow work to play its rightfully vital role in our overall wellbeing.”
“Work-life wellness” is cited as the solution, described as “an attainable state of mind-body wellbeing that’s found at the intersection of life and work” where “life experiences in and out of the office interact to the benefit of employee happiness, health and performance.”
According to the results, 83 per cent of respondents believe their wellbeing is just as important as salary, more than one-third do not think their employer demonstrates commitment to their wellbeing and 85 per cent are more likely to stay in their current role if their employer focused more on wellbeing.
While salary was seen as the most important element in any professional position, wellbeing benefits came second and career progression was third, followed by flexible working practices, vacation/holiday allocation and work/life balance.
In 2021, Gympass was valued at US$2.2bn as part of a US$220m funding round. The corporate fitness platform works with over 50,000 partners in North America, Latin America and Europe and provides employees with access to 1,300 on-demand classes, 2,000 hours of meditation, one-on-one therapy and personal training sessions.
